By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : At least two people were killed and dozens injured after a series of bomb blasts in at least five busy areas of Kathmandu valley Sunday, a year after the Maoists signed a peace pact with the government and ended their violent guerrilla war.
Early reports said four people including two women were killed and over two dozens injured in the blasts. However, only two deaths were confirmed till late evening.
Some of the busiest areas in the capital, Balaju, Tundikhel and Tripureshwor, were targeted by unknown attackers.
Around 4.15 p.m., a bomb went off in a public bus before the gate of the Balaju Industrial Area. Two passengers were said to have been killed. However, there was no immediate official confirmation.
About the same time, another bomb went off in front of the newly built World Trade Centre in Tripureshwor, Kathmandu’s tallest shopping complex and conference area.
The blast hit students of a nearby school, Vishwa Niketan, who were waiting on the road to catch public buses back home.
Anita KC, a 12th grader from Thankot, died on the spot, while nearly a dozen students were injured.
A middle-aged woman who was also killed in the blast could not be identified immediately.
Yet another blast went off close to Tripureshwor in Tundikhel, near the army officers’ club.
No one had claimed responsibility for the explosions immediately and there was panic in the capital.
The explosions came on a day the capital was thrown out of gear by protests called by the Maoists to pressure the government into releasing over 40 of their cadres arrested last month after clashes with other student groups.
The Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of the Maoists, called a Kathmandu valley shutdown on Sep 9, which would be followed by an indefinite closure.
With just 80 days to go before the crucial election on Nov 22, Sunday’s attacks would create new obstacles in Nepal’s political roadmap.
Journalist Kishore Shrestha, whose Jana Aastha tabloid is known for its contacts in the government and Maoists, predicted that the Maoists could pull out of the eight-party government and refuse to take part in the election.
They have already been pressuring the government to declare Nepal a republic immediately without waiting for the election.
The guerrillas are contending that King Gyanendra would not sit idly and let the election take place when it could jeopardise his crown.
Earlier this year, they persuaded the ruling parties to amend the constitution and add a provision, which says if parliament feels the king is trying to sabotage the election or foment any anti-national activity, it can abolish monarchy through a proclamation provided two-third of the MPs agree.
On the other hand, two groups of former Maoists in the Terai plains have warned the government they would not allow the polls to be held till their demands are met.
To add to the complications, an ethnic group with which the government last week inked a pact and averted fresh protests by them, split Monday.
The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum that signed a deal with the government last week has stoked trouble both within the party and among the Maoists, who are condemning the pact.